ABSTRACT
In this essay, we have tried to discuss some of the
Yoruba ethics Influenced by the Western Culture.
What
we have just done in this essay is to take some of the Yoruba ethics and
compare it with the Western Culture and try to point out the peculiarities and
differences between the two cultures. We have also tried to familiarize my
fellow students and people from other tribes with an understanding in the study
of Yoruba culture, practice, norms and tradition in general.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
page...............................................................................ii
Certification..........................................................................iii
Dedication............................................................................iv
Acknowledgments.............................................................
...v
Abstract...............................................................................vi
Table of
contents..................................................................vii
General
introduction............................................................ix
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Ethics............................................................................1
1.2 Ethical
universalism.......................................................2
1.3 Ethical
relativism...........................................................2
1.4 Cultural universalism.....................................................3
1.5 Cultural
relativism.........................................................4
1.6 A brief genecology of the
Yoruba.....................................5
1.7 The yoruba political culture...........................................6
1.8 Religion
culture..............................................................8
Notes and
Reference.............................................................12
CHAPTER TWO
2.1 Family
life....................................................................13
2.2 The altruistic nature of the yoruba
family life...............16
2.3 Marriage practice among the
Yoruba...........................22
2.4 The impact of colonialism on Yoruba
culture...............27
Note and Reference...............................................................29
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 The Yoruba origin and cultural
heritage.......................30
3.2 The nature of socio- ethical taboos in
Yoruba land........40
3.3 The introduction of indirect rule by the
colonial masters. (western political
culture).....................................................41
Notes and
References...........................................................48
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Potential and active
time..............................................49
4.2 The reckoning and
chronology......................................53
4.3 The present, the past and
future..................................58
4.4 Conclusion...................................................................63
Notes and
References...........................................................67
Bibliography........................................................................68
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
There are various and at times conflicting opinions on the
role which Western culture played and is still playing in moulding the ethical
structure of the present contemporary Yoruba society.
This is a two-sided sword which could be dually interpreted
and the interpretation may either appear positive or negative. The controversy
might be a result of the present ethical structure of the present Yoruba
society has been an important one which consequences either improves or
diminutives the ethical standard of the Yoruba people.
Another reason which is sometimes offered for the various and
different opinions held by the contemporary Yoruba springs from the conflicting
motions which people have on how the Yoruba society ought to be. Yet another
reason might be the present moral laxity, political diversity, disintegration
and religions decadence prevailing among the present day Yoruba society and
revealed or manifested by present day example or occurrences.
There was Western acculturation of the Yoruba society. This
process led to the transfer and acceptance of the Western Culture throughout
Yoruba land with the consequent decline in ethical standard and tradition. In
addition, the contradictions between the norms of the Western culture and the
Yoruba society; for example, the role the obas and the chiefs were so much
alternated without redefinition which at times results in moral conflict and
moral decline. Not only that there was decline in moral inter-personal
relations within the Yoruba as, I also like in this essay to explain the
concepts likely to appear in the whole contents of the essay
CHAPTER ONE
YOURBA AND WESTERN ETHICS
1.1
ETHICS
There are many actions which we will condemn as
morally wrong and ought not to be done by anybody, for example, stealing,
murder, bribery aimed robbery and corruption e.t.c there are also certain
actions which everybody considers as morally good e.g kindness, honesty,
respect for elders, hospitality e.t.c. Now, why do we say that certain actions
are good or right and we see others as bad or wrong? How do we determine the
badness or wrongness and goodness or rightness of certain actions?.
To answer these questions and the
likes, we need a science, which deals with human conduct. The science which
deals with human conduct is regarded as ethics1. Ethics is therefore
a yardstick used for measuring the goodness or rightness and wrongness or
badness of certain actions or conducts.
1.2
ETHICAL UNIVERSALISM
Ethical
universalism states that ethical judgment no matter the degree ought to be
universalisable. Thus ethical universalism states that one single ethical
standard of judgment ought to be held throughout the world.
With ethical Universalist, all actions are to be taken as
common to all. This theory or concept claims that for example, an action which
is judged “right” or “wrong” “good” or “bad”, “praise worthy” or “blame worthy”
in Western countries, ought to be able to accept the same claim among the
Yoruba people here in Nigeria.
1.3 ETHICAL RELATIVISIM
“ Ethical relativism
shows diversity or variation of a group or an individual morality. Judgment on
mortality in this case depends on individual human conduct”2.
However, it is important to know that ethical relativism is contingent on some
other basic factors. These include cultural historical and class distinction of
an individual or a society. Ethical universalism claims that one single ethical
or moral standard of judgment ought to be upheld throughout the universe, while
ethical relativism claims, that on the other hand, that whatever action is
judged to be praise worthy or blame worthy is relative to individual or a
society in a period of time or circumstance.
1.4 CULTURAL UNIVERSALISM.
The term cultural has been
defined in various ways, for example, culture has been defined as; ‘’Every
broad general principle of selectivity and ordering --- “highest common factor”
---- in terms of patterns of and for and about behaviour in every various areas
of culture content are reducible to parsimonious generalization’’3.
From the
above definition, its quiet clear that culture can emerge not only from
tradition and customs of a given society. It could also be acquired and
incorporated into ones existing culture in many other different ways. These
other ways include the process by which a person acquires from or a group of
persons acquire from contact with other person or group of persons. Like
ethical universalism, this theory says that all cultures must be
universalizable. What cultural universalism emphasizes is, that if a country
‘’A’’ claims that it is justified to practice culture ‘’Y’. Then if country
‘’A’’s or society ‘’A’’s claim were consistent, it must be agreed upon that
other societies or countries ‘’A1’, ‘’A2’’, ‘’A3’’, ----, ‘’An; would be similarly justified to
practice culture ‘’Y’’ in situation ‘’R’’. To do otherwise, would be to make an
odd claim.
1.5 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Cultural
relativism affirms that all values are a functions or product of their culture
and reflect the interest of their society and culture. It is a fact of human
experience as conditioned by culture.
When we
study society that is different from one another. For example, in some of the
Eskimos group, they think that it is better to take their aged people to waste
lands to be left to die rather than keeping them alive in their old age to
suffer.
This is
parricide, others are abortion, euthanasia, human –sacrifice and cannibalism.
These examples so given shows that, the rightness or wrongness of human actions
means different things to different societies or even between individuals. That
is, there can be no set of moral codes or ethical codes. Everyone ought to
accept as universally valid or individual.
1.6 A BRIEF GENEOLOGY OF THE YORUBAS
The
Yoruba society or kingdom covers the present day Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun
and some other parts of kwara – state and Lagos- state and also extends to the
present day republic of Benin. Yoruba society is usually taken together as one
entity because of the homogenous traces in their language. Despite it’s many
dialects, this language provides the main evidence of a common origin and
cultural heritage.
A second point to a common origin of the
Yoruba society is the existence over the whole country of a cycle of myths and
its people and the foundations at ‘’Ile-Ife, the worlds center of the first
kingdom.
1.7 THE YORUBA POLITICAL CULTURE.
The key
political unit on which government was based in all Yoruba kingdoms was the
‘’Town’’, ‘’Ilu’’ Each kingdom is consisted of many towns, but that did not
mean that there were many independent governments in each town or kingdom’’4.
The government of the capital served as the central government of the kingdoms,
while those of the subordinate towns served as the local government units. Both
at the central or local levels, the system of government were monarchical,
that, it was headed by an Oba (king) who was entitled to wear a crown.
The Oba
was divined and was the political and religious head of his town. As head of
the government, the Oba was regarded as a divine king, and in theory he had
absolute powers of life and death over his people. His attribute was ‘’Oba,
alase, ekeji Orisa’’ --- king the ruler and companion of the gods. He was also
addressed as ‘’kabiyesi’’ an expression which is said to be contracted from of
the sentence ‘’ki-a-bi-o-ko-si’’. That is, there is no question of anyone
challenging or querying your authority.
In a
nutshell, the Oba, in theory, had the power of life and death over his subjects
and was as, a divine king not accountable to them for any of his deeds.
When the
Westerners came, the whole old Yoruba political ethics changed and was viewed
in different was. Some people believed that the powers of these divine kings
were withdrawn bit by bit under the pretence of indifferent rule system, and
that the king’s powers were eroded completely after the western Europeans
granted the Yoruba people independence by the politicians who took over the
chair of leadership from them.
The
former role of Obas and chiefs were alternated and decline loyalty of all
sorts. The moral or ethical implication of this was obvious and still felt in
the present political rulers and Obas relationship among the contemporary
Yoruba society. Other observers saw these changes not as obstructive or a
complete distortion in the old system but as a sort of political
re-organization which still revered the old system and placed the Obas in post
which they, by tradition ought to occupy.
After
all, they said, Obas throughout the Yoruba land are still recognized as the
chief priest in all religious and ritual ceremonies.
1.8 RELIGIOUS CULTURE
The
western missionaries did not bring the idea of God to Yoruba people. They
believed in the existence of one ‘’Great God’’ as an integral member of the
society as distinct from the western Christian conception of God staying a loof
in heaven, in the community of good Angels.
The Yoruba people believed in the
existence and power of Deities (spirit) headed by an omnipotent God. Where ever
you find a Yoruba man, there also is his religion. Although Yoruba religion is
not written down like the sacred’’ Bible’’ of the western Christians, yet all
the chapter of the Yoruba religions are written everywhere in the life of the
Yoruba people. Among the Yoruba, there are no irreligious people.
According
to professor John Mbiti, for a Yoruba man to be without religion or not to live
a religious life amounts to a self-communication from the entire life of the
societ,’’5 and Yoruba people do not know how to exist without religion.’ to the
Yoruba’s, man’s character is of supreme importance vand it is this which
Oludumare (God) judges.6n, Man’s well-being here on earth depends upon his character, so also
his place in the afterlife is determined by Oludumare. The ethics of the
Yoruba’s is a transcendental ethics. This is so because it is ultimately but on
an objective transcendental moral order.
Order which is beyond man and is not within his power to alter
Although,
Yoruba religion is not written down like the sacred ‘’Bible’’, yet unlike the
westerners, Yoruba peoples belief is that, it is not enough to embrace a faith
which is confined to church building which is locked up six days and opened
only once or twice a week.
Through
education the western missionaries were able to produce catechists, pastors,
teachers, priests, church- wardens and converts. As a result, Yoruba
traditional religion was particularly looked up with disfavour as the
missionaries associated it with ‘’idol’’-worship and considered it as hindrance
to Christian evangelism and conversion without any consideration for moral
values the people attached to it.
This
is according to some Yoruba people was the beginning of moral laxity among the
contemporary Yoruba’s. Yet others give western religion a positive took, as the
big hammer that destroyed immoral practices like human sacrifices killing of
twins, euthanasia, cannibalism e.t.c which culminated Yoruba traditional
religion and ethics without or with little consideration for ethical
relativism.
Furthermore, some see western religion as
a tool used to re-integrate the Yoruba youths, which fell prey to social
destabilization and eventually became socially designated as a result of
rural-urban flux. Finally, the universal moral attitude of western religion has
so much transcendental moral or ethical values over and above the Yoruba
tradition in such a way that it creates and maintains social solidarity among
the Yoruba’s.
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